Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) Increases Dividend to $0.42 Per Share

Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.424 per share on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Clearway Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Clearway Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 13.6% annually over the last three years. Clearway Energy has a payout ratio of 137.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Clearway Energy to earn $0.64 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 265.6%.

Clearway Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CWEN opened at $27.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.87. Clearway Energy has a 12-month low of $20.63 and a 12-month high of $30.92.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.17). Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 1.80% and a net margin of 7.21%. The company had revenue of $486.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Clearway Energy will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CWEN shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on Clearway Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Clearway Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Clearway Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. CIBC increased their price objective on Clearway Energy from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Clearway Energy in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.13.

Clearway Energy Company Profile

Clearway Energy, Inc operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities.